PERTH AMBOY — The driver for former Assemblyman and Perth Amboy mayor Joseph Vas pleaded guilty today to charges that he and Vas rigged a public lottery, so the driver would be picked to buy a house through a federally subsidized program.

Under a plea agreement, Anthony Jones, 50, must forfeit the two-family house he was allowed to purchase on Market Street in Perth Amboy in 2003 and must pay back the rent he received for leasing one unit in the house, state Attorney General Paula Dow said in a statement today.

Jones, who had been a maintenance worker in the Perth Amboy Police Department as well as Vas' driver, admitted in Superior Court in Freehold today that he conspired with the former mayor to fix the lottery so his name would be picked out of 40 people seeking a chance to buy the house.

Jones also admitted falsifying personal financial information to qualify for the lottery, Dow said in the statement. Appearing before Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci, Jones pleaded guilty to third-degree charges of falsifying or tampering with public records.

Deputy Attorney General Nichole Rizzolo stated in court that she will recommend Jones be placed on probation when he is sentenced on Jan. 6, 2012. Jones will also be barred from holding a public job in New Jersey.

Vas, a four-term mayor and three-term assemblyman, previously pleaded guilty to a string of state corruption charges, including the rigging of the lottery. Vas was sentenced to eight years in prison, and must serve at least five years before he is eligible for parole.

That sentence runs concurrent with a 6 1/2-year federal sentence Vas is now serving at a prison in Ohio for his conviction on federal corruption charges.

The once-powerful Middlesex County Democrat was found guilty of buying a Perth Amboy city apartment and then selling it for a $290,000 profit by promising the buyer $360,000 in federal redevelopment funds. Vas, who was mayor from 1990 to 2008, was also convicted of illegally funneling some of the proceeds of that sale to his unsuccessful 2006 congressional campaign.

As for charges involving Jones, state officials say, in 2003 Vas arranged for a co-conspirator, not named in the indictment, to conceal a folded index card bearing Jones’ name and pretend to randomly draw it as the winner from among 40 participants, state officials say.

As a result, they said, Jones purchased the low-income housing, which was made available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development New Construction First Time Home Buyers Program. Jones paid $129,800 for the home and received $2,000 in subsidized closing costs from the city, officials said.

“This was a case of shameless cronyism and abuse of power,” Dow said. “Jones conspired with Mayor Vas in a scheme to manipulate the housing lottery and cheat the many other families who were denied a chance to purchase an affordable home.”

Perth Amboy will now sell the house to another qualified buyer, state officials said.

Jones must pay $2,000 to the City of Perth Amboy for attorneys’ fees and closing costs it incurred in selling him the home.